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Newbie CAD advice

1049 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Kevan, 
Keke Rosberg's tache
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The company has decided to try creating its own prototypes in-house, so a small 3D printer has been dropped into a corner of the office for us to play with & learn (Mars 3 resin machine). Of course all work and no play isn't any fun so I thought I'd try and start with something really simple - F1 rear wings (for a project I had long-since forgotten about)... these are the first tests. Naturally as a total newbie I have questions!

What CAD systems are people using for creating 1:32 scale bits, chassis and bodies? I'm a designer not an engineer, I usually just draft what I want using SketchUp and pass it over to the lads in the main office for detailing! SketchUp is fine at architectural size but the really small geometry seems to be beyond it.
Are you working at scale or starting at full/half size and then reducing down?
Finally, any tips on resin? We are using water washable to save all the faff with iso...

Thanks in advance!
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MrFlippant
Looks great!
I use Fusion 360. I usually design in the scale/size I intend to print, but if I were to be doing replicas of actual car parts, I'd probably design in 1:1 size and then scale down. The main problem to keep in mind with that is that some components that are fine in 1:1 get much too thin when scaled down, and either don't print at all, or are much too fragile. For that reason, it's worth making a copy to scale down, and then fiddle with things as needed without changing the original 1:1 model.
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C
I'm a big fan of Alibre Design. It is a parametric cad program. They have a hobby version that is only a few hundred dollars. It is a perpetual license, so you truly own your work.

Fusion being free is hard to compete with, but with AutoDesk, nothing is ever free forever...
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Keke Rosberg's tache
MrFlippant said:
Looks great!
I use Fusion 360. I usually design in the scale/size I intend to print, but if I were to be doing replicas of actual car parts, I'd probably design in 1:1 size and then scale down. The main problem to keep in mind with that is that some components that are fine in 1:1 get much too thin when scaled down, and either don't print at all, or are much too fragile. For that reason, it's worth making a copy to scale down, and then fiddle with things as needed without changing the original 1:1 model.
Click to expand...
Much appreciated. I have installed Fusion and looking forward to seeing what it can do
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Kevan
Fusion here too.

As far as resins go water washable ones tend to be more brittle. IPA and Ethanol aren't the nicest smells in the world, cleaning is a PITA so I can see the #1 advantage with water washable.
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MrFlippant
Yeah, I think (if I keep up with resin at all) I'll be getting water washable. The IPA odor is overpowering. My wife thinks it's the resin, no matter how many times I say it's the IPA. Doesn't matter, though. If I need to print, I have to print in the morning and make every effort to clear the air before she gets home, or at least by the time she uses the same room (where the elliptical is). I'm hoping that the water washable stuff alleviates that, but still works for the few things I need to print.

But yeah... Fusion360 for mechanical/mathematical models, and Blender for organic modelling.
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Kevan
Water washable resin is perfect for a lot of Slot car stuff...but not bodyshells or chassis.
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